RA Movie Thread (Read 5780 times)

I realize "interesting" =/= "I like", but I thought you didn't like Insomnia and found his ideas to be silliness.

It was Inception I wasn't thrilled with. Didn't help that I was doing a postdoc in computational neuroscience at the time, so I failed to suspend my disbelief early in the basic setup. Also I thought the second half was too much gratuitous action/adventure. I did watch it again on TiVo the other day, and parts of it were certainly fun. I liked trying to keep track of what was going on simultaneously on all the different levels, even though it was total BS.

((speaking of "what was that about..", I watched Adaptation with my 82 year old dad a few days ago. He didn't get it, so I tried to help explain. Easier to understand than Memento, but not easy to explain really.))

I'm a big fan of Charlie Kaufman. Easier to understand than Memento? Really? Not for me. Nolan's early movies have this nice puzzle quality, but at the end there is an answer. Kaufmann leaves you thinking afterward much longer.

I still need to see Synecdoche, New York.

mab411

Proboscis Colossus

posted: 1/28/2013 at 1:15 PMmodified: 1/28/2013 at 3:58 PM

I appreciate Charlie Kaufman's stuff, and usually at least think I "get it..." but man, his movies just don't usually leave me feeling very good about things.

MTA: Synecdoche, New Yorkis pretty brilliant. Doesn't hurt that I'd pay for a ticket to see Philip Seymour Hoffman play peek-a-boo, though.

"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

Me too. Just checked the cable listings, found it happens to be showing on STARZ this week, DVR is set! (Yes, I am at work, doing this from the handy AT&T U-verse iPad app.) Just need to find a time to watch it when my wife is not around, I have a feeling she will hate it, based on previous Kaufman experiences.

Oh and yes, P.S. Hoffman is brilliant, but I think one of his best roles was a comedic one, in Along Came Polly. He was hilarious.

I have a feeling she will hate it, based on previous Kaufman experiences.

Lol, that is exactly how my wife feels! Though she didn't seem to mind Eternal Sunshine.

"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

xor

posted: 1/28/2013 at 4:04 PMmodified: 1/28/2013 at 4:06 PM

Being John Malkovich is another one of those movies like Inception that I went to see because everyone said it was so amazing. It was alright, but I walked out wondering what the fuss was about. Magnolia was kind of like that too, except 3 times as weird and a million times more annoying to me.

Little Miss Sunshine and Napoleon Dynamite are two other "what's the fuss?" movies. Although, interestingly, repeated viewings of ND on television have helped that film grow on me greatly. LMS, no. Nor BJM.

The Prestige... you know how every season, there seem to be two movies that are very similar to each other out at about the same time? In 2012, we had two Snow Whites. There was also Dantes Peak/Volcano and Deep Impact/Armageddon. And others. The Prestige and The Illusionist were the two dueling magician movies. They are both pretty cool and worth viewing. And quite different from each other. There's one aspect of Prestige that bugs the crap out of me, but I won't give it away.

Being John Malkovich is another one of those movies like Inception that I went to see because everyone said it was so amazing. It was alright, but I walked out wondering what the fuss was about. Magnolia was kind of like that too, except 3 times as weird and a million times more annoying to me.

Wow, really? Magnolia had an amazing performance by Tom Cruise, but yes, overall very annoying; I felt ripped off.

But I don't see how anyone can not love Being John Malkovich. It just came out of left field; it was its own, totally new and different thing. 1999 was a great year for movies: Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, American Beauty.

I probably did not quite love Malkovich as much as bhearn, but the originality points put it over the top. Plus extra points for somehow making Cameron Diaz look frumpy.

That was an excellent 1999 trio...ah yes, Fight Club. First rule of Fight Club: do NOT try to get your wife to watch Fight Club. (Seems to be a theme here.) I thought the coolness of the movie would outweigh its guyness, but perhaps I was conflating the two. In any case, she did not last much past the Meat Loaf man-boobs.

We are also circling around all the movies that after it was over, I immediately wanted to see it again, knowing the ending. Memento, Prestige, Fight Club, and add Sixth Sense.

We are also circling around all the movies that after it was over, I immediately wanted to see it again, knowing the ending. Memento, Prestige, Fight Club, and add Sixth Sense.

Funny thing about Sixth Sense. I had it spoiled for me in advance, but didn't realize it was spoiled... just happened to have heard the crucial fact. What *I* didn't realize until the end of the movie was that that fact wasn't supposed to be obvious to everyone. When that became clear, I instantly saw the entire movie in a different light. Just as I was supposed to, but for exactly the opposite reason.

xor

posted: 1/28/2013 at 9:08 PM

After seeing the Sixth Sense, I immediately wanted to watch it a second time just to see how many clues I missed.

Then I never wanted to see it again. Seriously, this movie IS "the twist". Fight Club is the same way. If I never see either movie again, is ok.

Memento, however, is not like that. Because I'm still trying to figure it out. Ha. (that said, I haven't seen it in many years)

Funny thing about Sixth Sense. I had it spoiled for me in advance, but didn't realize it was spoiled... just happened to have heard the crucial fact. What *I* didn't realize until the end of the movie was that that fact wasn't supposed to be obvious to everyone. When that became clear, I instantly saw the entire movie in a different light. Just as I was supposed to, but for exactly the opposite reason.

It was truly spoiled for me - the opening day of the movie I told a friend to go ahead and tell me the end/twist...as I was never again going to watch a movie with Bruce Willis and a stupid little kid after wasting my time watching Mercury Rising. So, I knew the twist throughout the film - and it did make me appreciate the film. But yeah, I never saw it again.

I'm a girl, so I definitely saw Fight Club more than once. (wait...I just scrolled up and saw DaveP's wife didn't like Fight Club??! I don't understand this).

Memento I love and can watch all the time. But...same with Inception...as I've said 100 million gazillion times in this thread...I would marry C. Nolan. I <3 him.

Then I never wanted to see it again. Seriously, this movie IS "the twist". Fight Club is the same way. If I never see either movie again, is ok.

Memento, however, is not like that. Because I'm still trying to figure it out. Ha. (that said, I haven't seen it in many years)

I agree with you about Sixth Sense, but not Fight Club. In fact, I've only seen that once, when it came out -- I need to see it again. But yes, there is that rule about do NOT try to get your wife to watch Fight Club.

Memento, if you ever watch it on DVD, or digital download, you can hop around the scenes backwards and defeat the purpose of the presentation. Then it's not such a mystery. Though there are still some unclear points one can debate forever.

Now... talk about a movie that is like that but much, much more so... Primer. Mind = blown.

True story...back in 2009 I was at the DMV...there were about 10 or so people sitting in the waiting room waiting for their name to be called...and the DMV lady shouts out "Robert Paulson?" Nothing. I look around, frantically, waiting for someone to say "it." A few seconds later "Robert Paulson?" NOTHING. Then one more time "Robert Paulson?" I sooooo wanted Robert Paulson to stand up so I could say "His name was Robert Paulson."

xor

posted: 1/28/2013 at 10:04 PM

One of the very few jokes that actually works in the movie version of The Brady Bunch involves Mike Brady's skills as an architect. Throughout the movie, he's trying to pitch designs for various types of businesses... and it turns out, he keeps re-pitching the Brady Bunch house itself, but fitted out to be whatever the business is. (of course, as we know, the Brady house is famously poorly designed for a large family)

M Night's career has been a lot like that. He won rave reviews for "the twist"... and then spent movie after movie trying to recapture the lightning in the bottle. Gah.

(side note: for those who haven't seen the Brady movie in years and years... and there's no reason you should... Mike Brady is played by "the future Bill Lumbergh")

True story...back in 2009 I was at the DMV...there were about 10 or so people sitting in the waiting room waiting for their name to be called...and the DMV lady shouts out "Robert Paulson?" Nothing. I look around, frantically, waiting for someone to say "it." A few seconds later "Robert Paulson?" NOTHING. Then one more time "Robert Paulson?" I sooooo wanted Robert Paulson to stand up so I could say "His name was Robert Paulson."

Awesome! I would have had your same reaction.

I don't know why most women don't seem to like Fight Club. You'd think, with all the shirtless Brad Pitt-ness...I guess it's the nihilism.

That said, I'm not that big of a fan of the overall message (though I do like the anti-materialism), but it's a classic example of presentation trumping content for me. Anyway, if they haven't already, knifey, your movie tastes are going to make some lucky guy very happy some day (if guys are your thing)!

bhearn, that's interesting, how you watched The Sixth Sense for the first time! That would be an interesting perspective. I'm apparently one of the three or four people in the world who like M. Night's style, and wouldn't mind - nay, would be excited - if he stopped worrying about "twists." He's certainly swung-and-missed once or twice (*coughTheHappening!cough*), but I generally like how he takes his time with a story. For me, a movie doesn't have to be jam-packed with plot, or meaning, or what-have-you, as long as what's there is well-presented.